Last week’s closure of Pontins holiday park in Southport, England has has revived fond memories for Irish holiday makers and for the Arklow Shipping Silver Band in particular.
The championships started as a small contest but grew to become one of the most significant brass band events globally. Pontins invested over £30,000 annually in prize money and travel allowances, attracting 300 bands from England, Ireland, and Europe.
The Arklow Shipping Silver Band, the 1976 Irish National Brass Band Champions, regularly participated in the championships, enjoying Pontins’ on-site accommodation and entertainment.
Arklow brass band achieving an unbeaten record in the Irish Brass Band Championships from 2000 to 2006.
Pontins Southport Holiday Park, in Merseyside, closed on Wednesday January 3 following flooding in Storm Henk with the Sand Bay site in Kewstoke closed the following day. This follows the closure of two sites, Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park and Camber Sands on November 30. Just one Pontins resort remains open to guests, Pakefield in Suffolk (adults-only).
Founded by Fred Pontin in 1946, Pontins operated 30 sites at peak and were known for being smaller and less expensive than rivals Butlin’s. They opened Trabolgan holiday park near Youghal in 1948 with an eventual 172 self catering houses and self-catering apartments, currently undergoing refurbishment to be completed for the 2024 season.
The parent company went in to decline and was bought out of receivership by Britannia Hotels in 2011, who promised plans to bring a touch of Disney-style magic to the traditional holiday resorts.
Pontins Irish Sea resorts were popular with Irish guests under ferry-and-park packages sold by the ferry companies, but in March 2021 a whistleblower provided the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) with an internal Pontins document listing what were considered to be common Irish surnames, deeming people so named to be “undesirable guests” whose booking was to be refused.
